Nuremberg on Saturday were relegated as
they lost 2-0 at home to Schalke 04 on a high-scoring last match day in the
German Bundesliga, that saw 38 goals scored in nine matches.
Champions Bayern Munich finished their season on a high as they beat Hertha Berlin 5-1, while Werder Bremen kept their second place ahead of Schalke to gain an
automatic Champions League place with a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen. The result
sees Leverkusen slip out of the places that would qualify them for a place in Europe.
At the start of the day Nuremberg were two points behind Bielefeld, who drew
2-2 at VfB Stuttgart.
Hamburg qualified for the UEFA Cup with a convincing 7-0 victory again SC
Karlsruhe. It was the first victory at home for the side from northern Germany after three defeats and a draw.
Paolo Guerrero scored a hat-trick, with captain Rafael van der Vaart getting
two and Piotr Trochowski and Ivica Olic one each for Hamburg, whose coach Huub
Stevens will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Hamburg will be joined in the UEFA Cup by Vfl Wolfsburg, who managed to win
4-2 at Borussia Dortmund.
In Munich, visitors Hertha Berlin did very little to spoil the Bayern party,
who not only were celebrating their title, they also said goodbye to several
players, including former Germany captain Oliver Kahn and coach Ottmar
Hitzfeld.
Bundesliga top scorer Luca Toni scored twice in the first half as his headers
in the third and 27th minute gave goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny no chance.
Franck Ribery added a third in the 33rd minute, which he celebrated by running
to the bench and thanking Hitzfeld, before Toni scored his third in the second
half.
Valeri Domovchiyski pulled one back late in the game for the visitors, shortly
before Kahn was taken off to a standing ovation of the capacity 69,000 crowd.
Frankfurt had no problems in beating relegated MSV Duisburg 4-2, with a brace
by Martin Fenin. Greek international Ioannis Amanatidis and young striker
Marcel Heller scored the others for the home side.
Claudiu Niculescu and Markus Daun scored for the visitors.
The third side to go down, Hansa Rostock, won 2-1 at VfL Bochum, while the
final game saw Hanover 96 beat Energie Cottbus 4-0, dpa reported.